RALEIGH – On Thursday, September 21, 2006, the residents and business community of Catawba County will have the opportunity to review and ask questions about preliminary copies of newly updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for Catawba County.  The maps will be on display at 5:30 p.m. for viewing and the presentation will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the David Stewart Meeting Room of the Catawba County Cooperative Extension Building located at 1175 S. Brady Avenue in Newton, North Carolina.

Digital versions of the preliminary maps of the Catawba County FIRMs are currently available for public review by contacting your local Planning Department and are available at the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Information System.  A link to this system is provided on the website of the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program: www.ncfloodmaps.com.  Catawba County residents who visit the site will find an Address Locator Tool to help them locate individual properties and see their relationship to mapped flood prone areas.  Other tools are available to assist them with viewing and downloading digital data from the website.

The September 21st public meeting provides an opportunity for Catawba County residents to see the results of the advanced digital technology used to create the new flood maps.  County and municipal officials will be on hand to help residents locate particular properties on the maps and determine their level of flood risk.  Representatives from the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program and North Carolina Floodplain Management will make short presentations on the map production process, features of the new maps, how they can be used to reduce future losses due to flooding, and their connection with flood insurance and floodplain management.  Attendees may also see a demonstration of the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Information System.  Following the presentation, state and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) representatives will be available to answer questions about the mapping process, flood insurance coverage, and floodplain management topics. 

Catawba County's new Flood Insurance Rate Maps were produced by the State of North Carolina under a unique partnership with FEMA.  The partnership agreement, signed in September 2000, designates North Carolina as a Cooperating Technical State and delegates the primary responsibility for the creation and maintenance of all Flood Insurance Rate Maps to North Carolina.  The effort to remap the state's floodplains was spurred by the devastation caused by Hurricane Floyd, which flooded large areas of eastern North Carolina and left thousands of people homeless.  This disaster highlighted North Carolina's vulnerability to natural disasters and the need for accurate, up-to-date floodplain maps. 

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NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information on the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program, visit the web site at www.ncfloodmaps.com.  More information on the public meeting can be obtained by contacting Mary George, Catawba County Senior Planner at 828-465-8264 or Randy Mundt, Planning Supervisor with the State Mapping Program, 919-715-5711 ext. 119.